nuclear power plant? right now 55% of you say yes, 45% say no. >> the debate continues online at cnn.com/crossfire as well as facebook and twitter. we also want to congratulate newt gingrich on his latest book "breakout." >> from the left i'm michael schweitzer. >> on the right i'm newt gingrich. join us tomorrow night for another edition of "crossfire."

we're looking at two-thirds the size of the philippines. >> a country that sees so much action when it comes to tropical activity, a company that is certainly used to this sort of weather, but not to the magnitude, to the scale of the storm we're talking about at this hour. at this moment, the wind sitting at 295 kilometers per hour that is after about eight hours it made landfall on the philippine eastern coast out there. wind gusting over 360 kilometers per hour that is about 225-miles-per-hour gusts. again, almost seven hours removed from when it made landfall. and the reason for that is the philippines' archipelago, made up of 7100 islands scattered about this region make it very difficult for this storm system to weaken because a lot of water

in between a lot of islands. and that of course fuels the storm system, retainsette strength. that is very, very problematic. this is being one of the strongest storms in recorded history. once the data comes in, we'll be able to verify that. at this point, when we're talking about 315 kilometer per hour winds, 195-mile-per-hour winds, very few storms on our planet in recorded history have ever been able to attain such status. and a lot of that has to do with the laws of physics. on our planet with the earth's rotation, it makes it difficult for a storm to get up to this magnitude, above 300 kilometers per hour, or 200 miles per hour and retain that magnitude. this system very close to redefining the laws of physics as far as what it has been able to obtain. going on 50 hours of super typhoon status. if you're tuned in in the united states wondering what is the difference between a typhoon, a

super typhoon, the names are different. very similar to a storm system. in fact, in the united states, in the atlantic ocean, we have categorical scales. go up to a category 5, we're talking about maximum sustained winds of a storm system. in the western pacific, where a super typhoon haiyan is located, there aren't any categories. but if there were, this would exceed the category 5 level. it would nearly exceed the category 6 level. that's how strong this storm system is. just comparing it to hurricane katrina, a memorable storm everyone can relate to when it comes to the magnitude and devastation it left behind, that was a category 5 at its peak. peak winds with this storm system, again approaching what would be a theoretical category 6 and 7. 315 kilometers per hour. that is about 240 miles per hour landfall there compared to the winds in the katrina storm system. that came in at 205 kilometers per hour, about 150 miles per hour. 120-mile-per-hour winds when it comes to landfalling katrina. so a huge difference as far as

the magnitude when the storm came in to land. and juanita, you look at this, the fatalities left behind with katrina, over 1800. the fatalities with this storm system remain to be seen. we know a lot more people in the path of this storm system than were in the path of hurricane katrina. so that is why this is such a serious situation that is taking place in the philippines right now. >> we know right now so far three lives have been claimed by the storm, and authorities are saying that number could go way up in the hours ahead. thank you very much for that. let's put it into a little bit more context for you this. super typhoon will be the third major disaster to hit the philippines in the past year. this is i think the 24th major storm to hit the country this year. now last month a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the region, killing more than 200 people. nearly a thousand were hurt, and around 350,000 people have been displaced. that's according to the authority there's. in december last year, typhoon bopa devastated the island of

mindanao. the storm the most powerful to hit the country last year is estimated to have killed as many as 1900 people. we will continue to track the super typhoon and bring you more as we get it. for now let's take you back to atlanta and natalie. >> thank you very much. we'll stay on top of that story throughout the hour. right now we do want to check some of the other news making headlines that we're fall following. john kerry heading to geneva today to help in the negotiations over iran's nuclear program. he has been crisscrossing the middle east to try to jump-start stall iranian and palestinian peace talks. he says tehran may have an agreement with world powers in geneva before the end of this day. here is what he told cnn's christiane amanpour thursday. >> i believe it is possible to reach an understanding or an agreement before we close these negotiations tomorrow evening.

>> u.s. president barack obama is optimistic a deal is in reach. he told u.s. television network nbc that the first step would require iran to stop advances in its nuclear program in return for limited relief from economic sanctions. well, the pakistani taliban commander thought to be connected to the shooting of malala. before being driven out by the pakistani military in 2009. sources say he is now ordering attacks on pakistan from neighboring afghanistan. the u.s. army has opened a criminal investigation into allegations that american troops have been involved in torture, disappearances, and murders in afghanistan. the information was colleged by the international committee of the red cross and first brought to investigators in july.

we learn more from cnn's jim sciutto. >> reporter: an afghan detainee aggressively beaten by afghan soldiers while what appeared to be foreign soldiers look on and do nothing. it is this kind of abuse and worse that the u.s. army's criminal investigation command is now examining. in a separate investigation detailed in a new story by "rolling stone" magazine, the u.n.'s mission documented two incidents of torture, three killings and ten forced disappearances from february this year. with victims and witnesses blaming elite u.s. army green berets and their afghan interpreters. in a statement the u.n. says if true, the allegations, quote, may amount to war crimes. following angry local protests and pressure from afghan president hamid karzai, the green beret unit withdrew from post in april. soon after residents discovered human remains near the team's former base.

if true, it could cute one of the worst alleged crimes by deployed u.s. forces since american soldiers killed 24 iraqi civilians in haditha in 2005. asked repeatedly by cnn in recent months, officials said the matter had been investigated by not substantiated. that changed, however, when the international red cross submitted new evidence which it told cnn it received from families of victims and others. >> the army is now bringing the investigation out of afghanistan. so it's not run by force there's. how important is that? >> this is essential. having outside investigators means that the culture of impunity that has been enjoyed for too long inside afghanistan is likely to be cracked here. >> reporter: the revelation comes at an extremely sensitive time for u.s. forces in afghanistan. in just two weeks, afghan leaders will decide whether u.s. troops in country will have immunity from local prosecution. a continuing sticking point in negotiations over the future of the u.s. military presence.

>> it's certainly topical and it's right in the crosshairs of how well the united states can negotiate. >> reporter: the u.s. military has taken steps to bring down the number of civilian casualties from reducing air strikes to setting up a civilian casualties tracking cell. the military credits those efforts with reducing casualties by 60% from 2012 to this year. but an alleged crime like this one has the potential to be particularly damaging. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. our coverage of super typhoon haiyan is just ahead. the people of the philippines trying to hold on as one of the strongest storms ever reported pounds their island home. we'll have more about it. also coming up, it is something to crow about. twitter boasts a profitable opening day on wall street. 3nhj

we are tracking the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall. it is called haiyan, and it's making its way across the central philippine as we speak. its maximum sustained winds are just under 300 kilometers an hour, and when it made landfall earlier this friday, there were gusts of 380 kilometers per hour. more than 25 million people are expected to be impacted by the storm, including hundreds of thousands that were hit by a massive earthquake there just

last month. microblogging site twitter made its debut and it was a hit. demand for the shares very high. alison kosik has more on the highly anticipated ipo. >> reporter: energy was high. the floor was packed. the blue logo was everywhere on the platform outside the building. interestingly, twitter did not ring the opening bell, like most ceos and executives do when their company goes public. twitter gave that honor to some of its notable users. actor patrick stewart, a 9-year-old girl who raised money to end slavery and a representative from the boston police. ticker symbol twtr moved, and a big cheer filled the room. it opened at $45 a share. that's the price that everyday investors were able to get in at. but the ipo priced at $26 last night. the banks underwriting the deal, hedge funds and mutual funds got that sweet deal.

clearly demand and confidence were high. also amped up, the nyse, the twitter ipo was a big get for the exchange. it had to duke it out with the nasdaq for these listings, fighting like two boxers. and despite fears of technical glitches, especially after the nasdaq botched the facebook ipo, things went off without a hitch. i talked to the nyse co about how things went. >> we're really proud of it. as i said to my team in a town hall meeting a couple of days ago, you don't have to go back that far to a time when we were winning one or two out of every ten technology ipos. now we're winning six or seven out of every technology ipos, including a lot of the important ones. i think the wind is in our sails. no time to get complacent. >> twitter also can't get complacent. now the real work begins. it has to turn a profit and prove to investors their money was well spent. i'm alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. a new report claims the cia is paying at&t more than 10 million a year to get access to

the company's phone records. the "new york times" says it confirmed the payouts with government officials. access to the phone records is reportedly limited to people the cia believes are associated with overseas terrorism suspects. in a statement to cnn, the cia said as a matter of long-standing policy, the cia does not comment on alleged intelligence sources or methods. at&t's response to cnn was whenever any government entity anywhere seeks information from us, we ensure that the request and our response are completely lawful and proper. like alltel co telecom provider routinely produce information provided. barack obama he's he has never asked many questions about the source of intelligence information on u.s. allies. his comments thursday came amid sustained anger in germany over reports that chancellor angela

merkel's cell phone was tapped. germany is demanding an apology and a new agreement with washington stating that its leaders will not be spied on by the u.s. those spying allegations have eroded the german image of u.s. trustworthiness. a german public television survey as you see here finds 35% of those asked believes the u.s. can be trusted. that's down 14 points from july. 61% have responded say the u.s. cannot be trusted. three top british intelligence officials took their turn in the hot seat thursday in a public hearing. they're being grilled over allegations they were tapping citizens' internet communications. the claims follow leaks by former nsa contract edward snowden. but the head of britain's foreign spy agency hit back saying snowden's leak harm counterterrorism operations. >> the leaks from snowden have

been very damaging. they put our operations at risk. it's clear that our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. al qaeda is laughing it up. >> meantime, snowden continues living and working in russia, having been granted temporary asylum. in a so-called manifesto published last week, he wrote that his actions were bringing about change. u.s. officials say they want him to return and face espionage charges. coming up, we'll go back to hong kong for more on super typhoon haiyan. it is one of the strongest storms on record, and it could be several hours before we begin to get an idea how much damage it caused across the central philippines. stay with us for the latest and an update from the international weather team. we're right back.

welcome back. we are getting some of our fist

pictures that show the aftermath of super typhoon haiyan, which is moving through the central philippines right now. the storm is the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall in recorded history. the center of the storm is now more than halfway across the philippines, heading towards the open waters of the south china sea. hundreds of domestic and international flights have been canceled over the next few days. well, meteorologist pedram javaheri joins us with more on haiyan's strength and its palo alto. pedram? >> you talked about this very well. you were talking about the mass scale of the storm system, how large it is in an area that encompass across the philippines nearly two-thirds of the company it encompasses. in the last two minutes measuring the northern fringe to the southern fringe of the storm system, and the storm stretches some 2,000 kilometers across as far as the cloud field is concerned or about 1200 miles across. you put this over the united states, the storm would measure from the western coast of california all the way to the

central plains. that is a large feature we're talking about here, with winds still sitting on the magnitude that is on the category 5 end. but notice the latest advisory coming in. the storm system now weakening gradually from the 295 kilometer per hour wind to 270 kilometers, meaning it goes from about 180 miles per hour down to about 165 miles per hour. mind you, a category 5 equivalent is 155 and greater in miles per hour. so this again still greater than a magnitude category 5 scale when it comes to storm systems. even as it weakens. some of the wind speeds oui seen 270 kph out of portion of the philippines. rainfall totals a quarter of one meter or 10 inches of rainfall have already come down with the storm system. now this area gets a tremendous amount of storms that happen every single year. somewhere around the order of seven to eight. over 20 impact areas around the western pacific. but this particular one of course one of the largest we have ever seen in recorded history. and some of the initial video coming out of this region

showing you some of the damage left in place as a very impoverished region. local officials saying they lost contact with some towns and some villages. some 41,000 people in samar, the country's poorest region have been evacuated from the province, and the samar governor says fallen trees, toppled electric posts blocking roads across this region. you can see the damage heft left behind with a storm system that is literally off the charts when it comes to the amount of winds and strength it packs across this region. 25 million people do live in the path of the storm that is felt by tropical storm-force winds. some 200 local flights and international flights suspended across the area. and we know some 1 million people, natalie, are keeping in shelters here from churches to schools, any sturdy location they can get into. and that number right there could be the biggest gain here in town as far as saving lives, because we've seen it in the past. evacuations save lives. and some people take it

seriously. some don't. in this case we hope every single person in the philippines is taking it seriously. >> absolutely. there have been so many people displaced by the earthquake that they just had. and they're living in tents with nowhere to go to take shelter. really worried about those people. pedram, you said something in the last hour that was so interesting. you said the winds are so powerful in this storm, the highest winds ever recorded. >> yes. >> they're actually redefining the law of physics for the planet. can you elaborate on that for a minute? >> it's fascinating. when storms get to a certain magnitude on our planet, the way storms rotate especially, you can only get to a certain strength because of the earth's rotation, because of oceanic atmospheric conditions. winds really do not exceed 200 miles per hour when it comes to an organized tropical feature. it's extremely rare. it's kind of akin to taking a top, spinning it on the table, spinning the top and seeing it spin for 30 seconds, 45 seconds and become a little wobbly and finally falling apart.

that's what happens. the law of physics and the rotation pull it apart and cause to it collapse. this storm system is not following many of those law. it's still trekking through the region over seven hours after landfall, still keeping a super typhoon status. >> we still don't know what people have experienced because they're cut off right now as they stay hunkered down during this storm. pedram, thanks again very much. >> you bet. the u.s. navy is being rock bade bribery scandal. as pentagon correspondent barbara starr tells us, it involves charges of corruption and breaches in national security. >> reporter: tickets to a lady gaga concert, prostitutes, luxury hotel stays, and thousands of dollars in paid travel are just the beginning of the alleged bribes in a broadening u.s. navy scandal that now has three top officials under arrest. u.s. navy commander jose luis sanchez arrested in tampa, florida, now charged with accepting hookers, luxury

travel, and $100,000 cash from a foreign defense contractor in exchange for classified information about navy ship movements. >> it's a worrisome case. we're deeply concerned about this.

welcome back to our continuing coverage. this monstrous storm as it roars across two-thirds of the philippines. millions of people are being affected by one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall. it could end upsetting a record, but it is, we're being told, weakening gradually. sustained winds have lessened a bit, but are still 270 kilometers an hour. right now the main concern is keeping people safe. landslides and flooding are major concerns in the heavy rains. the governor of one eastern

province says all roads are impassible there due to fallen trees. haiyan is moving quickly to the west, and forecasters say it could be over the south china sea in a few hours, heading for another landfall, this time in vietnam. the philippines country director for save the children joins us now lye by skype from manila. anna, thank you very much for being with us. in a situation like this, in a major storm, typhoon like this, everyone is practically vulnerable. but perhaps the most vulnerable are those that are the elderly, the sick, and of course children. tell us a little bit about what kind of impact that can have on kids. >> this can have a huge impact on the kids. of course it affects the whole family situation. with this kind of strong winds. what we fear is a large proportion of the poor people and people in general -- will be destroyed.

and might also destroyed the income earning of their families. and of course it will affect the children. what we have seen, that in turn can have an affect on the nutrition levels of children. children are very much affected. of course they're very scared right now. huge howling winds outside and the families might be scattered all over in different places if they didn't get together. so this is a lot of fear. and i'm sure a lot of the kids right now are very, very scared. the family to take care of that afterwards. >> you're in manila right now. what are you hearing from your colleagues that are in the region in terms of the worst-hit parts of where we are in the eye of the storm there. what kind of damage is being sustained by this typhoon? >> i talk early this morning around 5:00, 6:00 in the morning here, and they were scared. they said it was the strongest typhoon they had ever seen.

even in the room they were in. so it was a very strong typhoon. there was no electricity, and there was no visibility. and after that the communications has been cut. we haven't been able to get back to them. of course we're concerned about the storm, but the families who are there. >> perhaps what is even more heartbreaking about this particular situation is that this is yet another major storm that is battering the philippines right now. just last month we saw there was an earthquake, and there had been dozens of other storms, big storms to hit the country. what kind of impact is that having already on preparations or even resources that are in place for a country that is so accustomed to these kind of storms? >> well, this is the setup response we're doing since august in save the children. of course our resources are really stretched.

and -- [ inaudible ] in numbers that the last few months have really been intense for us. >> all right, anna, we thank you very much for joining us this. and that lindenfors the philippines country director for save the children in manila. now next march marks the third anniversary of japan's fukushima nuclear plant disaster. in the coming day, tokyo electric power company or tepco as it is known says it will begin moving spent fuel rods to a more stable location. but many people's lives, well, they'll never be the same. cnn's kyung lah looks back at her days in japan. >> reporter: march 2011. japan's 9.0 earthquake. unleashing a tsunami with waves 13 stories high, swallowing entire towns whole.

15,000 dead. a second disaster was just brewing. >> a powerful earthquake that hit japan. i want to go to kyung lah now. >> i was in tokyo when the earthquake struck. >> we see people walking around. >> reporter: my team and i drove north to the tsunami zone and passed the fukushima nuclear plant. we would witness the hydrogen explosions, and later it was the visible sign of a triple meltdown. it rained dangerous radiation across fukushima's neighborhoods. towns turned to empty shells. 160,000 people fled. children and pregnant women urged to leave first, considered most vulnerable to radiation exposure. the tsunami blew her -- >> i was pregnant and moved miles north where i continued to report in an area believed to be safe. what no one knew, what no one could truly predict is how the world's worst nuclear disaster since chernobyl would affect us all. it's been nearly three years since the disaster, and

fukushima prefecture louise sasaki has brought her children back home where her husband is the town monk. they live 30 miles away from the crippled plant which even today still struggles with ongoing leaks of contaminated water. she makes daily sweeps with her hand-held radiation detector and limits how long her children play outside. the government has decontaminated the home several times and monitors it with this giant device. the machine indicates radiation levels today are safe. when it comes to what they eat and drink, always the fear of the what if. sasaki tries to test their food when she can, but testing takes too long to keep up with the needs of her five children. >> translator: we worry about every breath, she says. my day is filled with anxiety. i can't enjoy raising my children. so many things have changed because of the accident. >> reporter: everything in fukushima has changed. crews are digging, bagging, and

hauling away contaminated earth. 142,000 female remain evacuees across the region. children in the early days wore decimeters. the children of fukushima are also being carefully watched. before the triple meltdown, health authorities estimated one or two in a million children would be diagnosed with thyroid cancer. the government has screened 216,000 fukushima children. so far 44 have been diagnosed or suspected of having thyroid cancer. but the government has kept the details secret. it normally takes more than five years for thyroid cancer symptoms to show after exposure. it's only been three since the disaster. still, some experts say the unexpected high rate may simply be that doctors are looking. but many parents of fukushima blame the nuclear accident. the sasakis are tested their children. they're fine so far. emphasis on so far.

>> translator: my anger has never disappeared since the fukushima nuclear accident. it's impossible that we rely on nuclear energy, because one false step, and we face catastrophe. >> reporter: the definition of catastrophe may depend on how you view post fukushima data. japan's government says it's safe to live in areas where some residents believe it's still too dangerous. this is what some of the tsunami victims -- as far as what happened to me, i gave birth several months after the disaster to a perfectly healthy son grant. i reported throughout the seclusion zone, and even went into the fukushima nuclear manhattan for an up close visit. tests later showed that all my limited reporting in high radiation zones has no visible impact on my thyroid. i left japan last year. the sasakis and tens of thousands of families remain in fukushima. we have two choices, they say. leave or choose to live the only way we know how.

kyung lah, cnn, los angeles. a stern warning for israel from the u.s. secretary of state. time is running out to avoid a disaster. we'll have more what he had to say right after this.

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that massive storm that has been moving through the region. super typhoon haiyan is believed to be the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history. maximum sustained winds right now are about 270 kilometers per hour. flash flooding and mud slides are a major concern due to the torrential rainfall. the storm is moving to the northwest into the open waters of the south china sea. in the philippines, the storm is called yolanda. let's get more now on the strength of haiyan or yolanda as it is being called there. and of course where it's headed next. pedram? >> monita, we're seeing it move over the sea, the body of water just adjacent to the area there's of where we had latest landfall. that is excellent news. we talk about the western pacific when it comes to tropical activity, to typhoons, more than any place on earth because they are notorious for getting these large scale typhoons that impact the area.

the 23 numbers for 2013 numbers across the region show you 28 named storms occurred so far in 2013. the average is 23 into this portion of the season. the typhoon numbers also up to seasonal numbers, just above what we expect for this time of year. it is the super typhoons, the winds above 240 kilometers per hour, or 150 miles per hour that are extremely rare. we've seen five of them on average. we do see three into the region. extremely rare to see that high number this far into the season. you compare that with what is happening across the atlantic ocean for folks across the united states. no named hurricanes into this season so far. one of the quietest. so we go from 27 storms on this side of the world to just two impacting portions of mexico and zero impacting the united states. show you the disparity of what is going on as far as tropical activity from one portion of the world to another. but this is the latest as far as what we have with super typhoon haiyan, still sitting well above the 240 kph, category 5 equivalent remains put.

the eye as it moves over the sulu sea, this region west of the oldest province in the philippines. we have some 500,000 people on this island, and this storm system finally moving out of this region, at least the center of it is. the next area of concern out there is the island of palawan. a very, very prominent area for tourist activity. we know across porto princessa just to the south in the last couple of years was named one of the seven new wonders of the world when it comes to underwater caves that are in this region and also rivers that are very, very popular area. we know 3/4 of a million people visit this region. hundreds of millions of dollars are brought in as far as economical revenue in that region. and that area being hit very hard with storms. as people and as scientists, we always like to look at what has happened in the past to gauge what a storm with this magnitude has the potential to do. and the most recent storm across the philippines that caused this sort of -- at least had this sort of magnitude was another

super typhoon that wasn't nearly as strong as the one we're speaking of right now. but super typhoon bopha showing astonishing damage. this is a banana plantation where hundreds of trees flattened across this region with winds of 280 kilometers per hour. of course now we're talking about 315 kilometers per hour. so a difference of say 170 in miles per hour to 190 in miles per hour. that 20 miles per hour difference, although it doesn't sound great, it is a substantial difference when it comes to the damage it can leave behind in one of the ones that we have really not seen in quite some time as far as wind speeds are concerned, natalie. >> right. absolutely. as far as the size, what is the relation to the size that this storm would be in the united states? >> so the united states you have categories of course that go up to category 5. this storm system, there is nothing above category 5. this storm system would be a hypothetical category 6. it could even get close to a category 7 if there were that category.

that's how strong it is when you're talking about 195 miles per hour wind at landfall. >> unbelievable. and if it were in the united states, it would be covering the area from -- >> to about nebraska, the central plains. >> unbelievable. thank you very much, pedram. other news now. as we mentioned earlier, u.s. secretary of state john kerry heads to geneva today to help narrow differences in negotiations over iran's nuclear program. this week he has been crisscrossing the middle east in an effort to boost israeli/palestinian peace talks which have stalled over israeli settlement construction. and he has a warning for israel if the talks fail. >> the alternative to getting back to the talks is the potential of chaos. i mean does israel want a third intifada? i believe if we do not resolve the issues between palestinians and israelis, if we do not find

a way to find peace, there will be an increase in isolation of israel, there will be an increase in campaign of delegitimization of israel taking place on an international basis. that if we do not resolve the question of settlements of who lives where and how and what rights they have, if we don't end the presence of israeli soldiers perpetually within the west bank, then there will be an increasing feeling that if we cannot get peace with a leadership that is committed to nonviolence, you may wind up with leadership that is committed to violence. >> but israel seems more concerned about the deal that negotiators could reach with tehran. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says his country rejects it completely. in geneva with more on the talks. >> there is growing optimism that iran and western powers could be close to what is being

called a first step agreement to limit the scale and scope of iran's disputed nuclear program. we've heard from a senior u.s. administration official. she says that she believes that iran for the first time in years is taking these talks seriously and not simply using them as a tactic to buy time. and then in some of the most optimistic comments to date, iran's foreign minister java vlad sharif told cnn's christiane amanpour that a draft could be on the table for signing by friday. the question, of course, is what this first step agreement would look like. a spokesman for the european union has said that the key issue here is uranium enrichment. the point there being that the kind of uranium that is used to generate electricity is of a lower grade than the uranium that is used to produce a nuclear bomb. >> the main issue is the -- is getting to the root of the problem, which as we all know is

the enrichment issue and the things that lead from that. and as i say, the end result for us being a verifiable reassurance of the international community that iran is only interested in a peaceful nuclear program. >> reporter: the americans have said they want iran to completely halt enrichment programs. that has also been backed by some united nations resolutions. the iranians for their part say that they're not prepared to do that. this is what foreign ministers zarif said to christiane amanpour on that subject. >> there won't be a suspension of our enrichment program in its entirety. but we can deal with various issues. various issues are on the table. some of the issues you mention ready on the table. there are parts of this negotiations, and we hope that we can reach an accommodation where the consents of both sides are met. >> reporter: for their part, iranians will be looking for

concessions on crippling economic sanctions. and the americans have said in return for iranian moves, they will give some kind of sanctions relief. remember, though, that this is just the first step in what is seen as a two-phase agreement. this first step will buy time then for more months of talks aimed at leading to the final comprehensive deal. that will aim to ensure that iran can pursue a peaceful civilian nuclear program while also guaranteeing that it cannot build a nuclear bomb. karl penhaul, cnn, geneva, switzerland. toronto's embattled mayor has admitted he smoked crack cocaine. flow is more. a new and bizarre video. we'll show you after this.

you're watching cnn. we are tracking the strongest tropical cyclone ever to make landfall. it's called haiyan, and it's

making its way west in the philippines into the sulu sea right now. wind speeds have eased somewhat. but when it made landfall earlier this friday, there were gusts of 380 kilometers per hour. more than 25 million people are expected to be impacted by this storm, including hundreds of thousands who survived a massive earthquake just last month. we'll continue to bring you more as we get it. natalie? >> thanks, monita. just days after admitting that he has smoked crack cocaine, toronto mayor rob ford finds himself trying to explain something else, more bizarre behavior. a rant recorded on videotape. here it is. >> never seen me [ bleep ]. at least i'm [ bleep ] over, i will [ bleep ] and i need -- >> it will be over five minutes. >> it will be a battle --

[ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> all righty then. we don't know the context of the video or where it was recorded, but this is what ford had to say. >> just released a video that was very, very inebriated, a and -- >> who were you talking to? >> what were you talking about? >> all i can say is, again, again, i've made mistake. when you're in that state -- i hope none of you have ever or will ever be in that state. and that's all i can say. >> some toronto citizens are calling for ford's resignation. so far he says he is not stepping down.

well, it can prevent 20,000 heart attacks a year. health officials in the u.s. are making a move toward banning trans fats in foods. we learn more from elizabeth cohen. >> reporter: many of these foods will likely need a makeover. from margarine to pecan pie to microwave popcorn, because many contain trans fats. ooh today the food and drug administration took the first step to saying no more. >> trans fat has long been recognize as a significant cause of heart disease. we're taking this action because we think it's time to address and really phase out the remaining uses of trans fat in the diet so we can reduce the incidents of heart disease and deaths resulting from heart attack. >> reporter: it used to be thought that trans fat, which comes from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil was healthier than animal fat. but now scientists know that

trans fat is terrible for your heart. trans fat raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. the fda estimates that getting trans fat out of foods will prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year. the fda is actually a little late to this game. new york city, the state of california, and many other places banned trans fat in restaurants years ago. so wendy's took it out of their frying oil. so did mcdonald's, and many other big chains. now the grocery store, that's a different story. in the grocery store, you can find pies that have trans fats, margarine, cookies, biscuits, and one of the biggest culprits of all, microwave popcorn. trans fat won't come out of foods immediately. it will take at least several months. the fda has yet to set a definite timetable. elizabeth cohen, cnn reporting. >> and that's our show. thank you for joining us in the cnn newsroom. i'm natalie allen at cnn center. >> and i'm monita rajpal at the

cnn hong kong. stay with us, though. our coverage of super typhoon haiyan continues.

is. >> that give you the scale of the storm which is now hitting the region and that is around

the popular tourist place of baka. people sheltering in a center had to be moved because the roof was ripped off of that evacuation center. these roofs are made of sheet melts so they could be causing a lot of damage. some people who refused to be evacuate had to be rescued by police so it's a very serious situation in that region and around the country. >> what are you hearing in terms of, i guess, the death toll right now. the number of peoples that are impacted by this. >> it's hard to hear anything and that is because many of these provinces have no electricity and the communication has been cut. some of the electricity has been cut off by the storm itself and some was shut off but even the authorities are ching trouble reaching their counterparts in these badly hit regions there.

an area where more than a few hundred people were killed in an earthquake last month and 5,000 of those people are living in tents and they have been experienced after shocks and they are now shelter in the evacuation centers that had to be checked to make sure they are structurally sound after the earthquake. we heard on the radio here, they haven't been able to make contact with some of the badly hit areas and the last message they got from the airport was airport ruined, need assistance. it's a very serious situation. as the reports come through we are expecting to hear more about casualties but it's really hard to get a grasp of it with the communication situation at the moment. >> and the difficulty, you touched on that just now, that this is an area, this is a country that is experienced so many storms this year alone not to mention an earthquake not too

long ago. resources i would assume is running thin. >> that's right. the philippines is accustomed to typhoons like this. 30 storms have hit the philippines this year but we hear this is the worse the philippines has seen this year and the world has seen this year and the red cross expect this to be worse than a typhoon that killed more than a thousand last year. the structures are not very sound here and people are living in houses many would consider to be more like shanties. a normally building would have trouble sustaining that wind power. this evacuation center was supposed to be a safe haven for people had the roof ripped off so it's a challenge for the authorities who can't reach so many of these areas and are

stretched to the limit. >> kathy, thank you for that perspective. kathy novak there for sbs australia talking to us on the phone from manila. give us an idea of just how strong this is right now and how big it is. >> about 2,000 kilometers across is the large scale feature stretching from the northern fringe of the storm all the way to the southern fringe of this storm system. the winds have dropped from the landfall 315 kilometers per hour and could be the greatest landfalling form when history when everything is tabulated once the storm system wraps up across this region. winds at this point have dropped to 270 kilometers per hour but still a healthy typhoon.

the latest track the center of slayings fades out the eye of the storm system but follow it there. goes over this area that is the oldest province in the philippines, 500,000 people live here. the northern fringe of this province is an area very prominent. we know over a million people visit this area every single year as one of the tourist hot spots and dozens of yi lands in its path and palawan over here. conditions will continue to calm down for the nation as a whole. it's a super typhoon meaning winds 240 kilometers an hour or greater and kept that stats 50 hours. the winds at landfall the winds outside away from the center of the storm the tropical storm force winds extended over 240

kilometers away from the center of the storm. that's the current location. again, push over the south china sea the next xouf hours and see conditions improve. we know the most spechs storm in country's history happened in the past 12 months, 2.2 billion disaster to happen near the philippines last year. this is the island we talked about being one of the oldest in the philippines. gorgeous place drawing over a million tourists per year. revenue on 226 million every single year. talk about a poor area getting one of the areas that brings money in now being devastated potentially by this storm system. >> thank you very much for that. bring you more perspective about this typhoon and, of course, the storms that continue to slam the philippines. this super typhoon is the third

major disaster to hit the philippines the last 12 months. last month 7.1 magnitude hit the region and a thousand were hurt and 350,000 were displaced. in december a typhoon devastated the island. the most powerful to hit the country last year, that estimated to have killed as many as 1,900 people. we will stay on top of this story throughout the hour. right now, we want to check on some of the other news making headlines. u.s. secretary of state john kerry is heading to geneva today to help on the nuclear programs. he is crisscrossing the middle east to try to jump-start palestinian peace talks. iran's foreign minister says tehran may have an agreement with world powers before the end

of the day. here is what he told con thursday. >> i believe it is possible to reach an understanding all in agreement before we close these negotiations tomorrow evening. >> u.s. president barack obama is optimistic a deal is within reach. he told u.s. television network nbc that the first step would require iran to hold advances in its nuclear program in return for limited relief from economic sanctions. elsewhere, the pakistan taliban commander thought to be linked to the shooting of teen activist malala. sources say he is now ordering attacks on pakistan from neighboring afghanistan.

american troops have been involved in torture, disappearances and murders in afghanistan. the information was collected by the international committee of the red cross and first brought to investigators in july. jim sciutto has this. >> reporter: an afghan detainee aggressively beaten by afghan soldiers what appeared to be foreign soldiers look on and do nothing. it is this kind of abuse and worse that the u.s. army's criminal investigation command is now examining. in a separate investigation, detailed in a news story by "rolling stone" magazine, the u.n.'s afghan mission documented two incidents of torture and three killings and ten forced disappearances from november 2012 to february this year. with victims and witnesses blaming elite u.s. army green berets and their afghan interpreters. in a statement the u.n. says if true the allegations, quote, may amount to war crimes.

following angry local protests and pressure from afghan president hamid karzai, the green beret unit with withdrew from post in april and soon after residents discovered human remains near the team's former base. if true, it could constitute one of the worst alleged crimes by deployed u.s. forces since american soldiers killed 24 iraqi civilians in haditha in 2005. the matter had been investigated they say but not substantiated. that changes when the international red cross submitted new evidence which it told cnn it received from families of victims and others. >> the army is now bringing the investigation out of investigation so it's not run by forces there. how important is that? >> this is essential. having outside investigators means that the culture of impunity that has been enjoyed too long inside of afghanistan is likely to be cracked here. >> reporter: the revelation comes at an extremely sensitive

time for u.s. forces in afghanistan. in just two weeks, afghan leaders will decide whether u.s. troops in country will have immunity from local prosecution. a continuing sticking point in negotiations over the future of the u.s. military presence. >> certainly topical and right in the cross hairs of how well the united states can negotiate. >> reporter: the u.s. military has taken steps to bring down the number of civilian casualties from reducing air strikes to setting up a civilian casualty tracking cell. the military credits those efforts with reducing casualties by 60% from 2012 to this year. but an alleged crime like this one has the potential to be particularly damaging. jim sciutto, cnn, washington. the most powerful storm of the year is striking the philippines. we have live pictures near the eye of the storm. the u.s. economy is on the mend but that news is dragging down the markets. we will explain why coming up.

we are tracki ining typhoon haiyan. 25 million people are in the path of this storm. hundreds of flights have been canceled because of this typhoon and it's packing sustained winds

nearly 300 kilometers per hour and wind gusts up to 360 kilometers. it could be the strongest recorded cyclone in history. we will bring you more of our special storm coverage in a moment. let's take a look at the markets here. st standard & poor's has been cut. they said high unemployment and tax reforms was on the decision. let's see how the markets are trading. t down almost two-thirds of 1%. investors are looking ahead. jobs numbers coming out later in the day in the united states. wall street is desperate, in

fact, for clues about the deserve's next move and later today all of those eyes will be on that jobs report for some concrete direction. the number is a key figure that the u.s. central bank look at as it gauges when to start scaling back its stimulus numbers. they project 120,000 jobs were added in october. sounds good but it's actually weaker than the 12-month average of 185,000 and that is due in part to the impact of the 16-day shutdown of the government. now they are expecting the jobless rate to be slightly worse rising to 7.3% for october but the dim read on forthcoming employment data is an entirely unwelcome news to investors. just yesterday the latest gdp figures showing the u.s. economy beating expectations growing 8.2% in the third quarter but this sent stocks tumbling. now you need to get a closer look at this latest batch of

data and see and analyze its effects on the markets and jim joins us from london, a senior economist at west back. james, walk us through what is going on. we had the gdp growth but eyes definitely on the jobs number today. the question is going to be to taper or not to taper. put some perspective on this for us. >> good morning. the gross numbers yesterday were stronger than expected in the headline. but that was mostly due to accumulation we think was in bond relief and probably reverse in the fourth quarter and weaker imports growth. consumer spend and we saw growth decelerate or fall. i think that is capturing the essence of the u.s. story. domestic demand 1.4% the last quarter, down a full percentage point from what it was running

out when they started it in the third quarter of last year. the economy has slowed and even on the jobs numbers and for that reason we think there is no case at all for the fed to taper in the foreseeable future unless that is decided that the risks associated with it have become greater than the benefits. >> i wonder about those jobs numbers. we have to take jobs numbers seriously but given these include the days when we had the shutdown we going to have to take it with a pinch of salt so to speak. >> it's going to be a difficult one to read, you're right. although the separate household survey will give us a few for how many private sector workers were out of work because of the government shutdown, the survey won't make it clear. we were surprised at how weak the previous three reports were.

we think a case for a little bit of catch-up but it was a stronger number and leaves a pretty disappointing jobs story in place which doesn't -- for the fed if they want to taper okay. let's switch gears slightly. we are all depend in economies, aren't we? >> yes. >> the ecb surprised us on thursday with the 25 base point cut. i was laughing with the team and i was saying, you know, i called that! i wasn't surprised when it happened given the predictions we had from the european commission and also the inflation numbers. >> the inflation numbers in particular must have worried the ecb. weaker than the previous month when they had already cited -- about inflation. look. we had expected an easing in the fourth quarter but to take the form of expansion the ecb taking more risk on to its balance sheet in an effort to somehow try and stimulate lending in the

peripheral economies to small to medium sized enterprises and they did it the traditional way cutting rates but we suspect more to come from the ecb in terms of policy and they are still looking at the available range of policy instruments. so the federal recovery in europe is going to get more support we think. >> i guess you have to have something as backup as well. you need more mileage in case the economy turns even lower. exactly, exactly! so close to zero. one last question for you. i got to ask you about this downgrade by standard & poor's up front. i was expecting a downgrade of italy but not france! >> it could be dangerous because they are two notches above junk. they had it coming. they haven't put in place the reforms that are vital if france is to survive in the single currency. even countries like spain and italy have seen their unit labor

costs fall to those of france and that is going to make life tough, very tough for the french in subdued growth environment going forward. what business activity there is they ain't going to get it so this is a timely wake-up call and investors need to be aware this is one of the big fault lines running through europe. the french aren't competitive and you can't have your second biggest economy in the euro zone in that situation and expect it to be sustainable. they do about it now and draw the pain or yet might be another revamp of the euro sovereign tensions that you've seen the last few years. >> i think a wake-up call for many. we have to leave it there. james, great to talk to you. thank you. we will keep you up-to-date with the latest developments of the super typhoon in the philippines. later in the show we will take

you inside fukushima. cnn was given a rare tour of japan's nuclear plant. stay with us.

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let's update you now on the latest on super typhoon haiyan. the storm is pounding large parts of the philippines since making landfall early this morning. it is gradual weakening as it

moves across land but still sustaining winds of 270 kilometers an hour. the storm is currently about 200 nautical miles south/southeast of the capital manila. at least three people have been killed and tens of thousands have fled to emergency shelters. 25 million people are said to be in the storm's path. now some are especially vulnerable to super tie soon haiy haiyan. they live on the central philippine island and many of the survivors are living in temporarily shelters because of a typhoon last year. one told us what he seen. >> there are a lot of houses that have been destroyed. their roofs are gone and here bohol an area the past three

weeks, people are experiencing aftershk and at the same time this is giving them a hard time. most advised to evacuate but few thousands of displaced families in areas that are still staying. now the typhoon is here, heart breaking to see them. and they are still evacuating in other spaces because of the after shock.

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welcome back. haiyan has been battering the philippines for hours now and gradually weakening as it moves across land. you're looking at some of the

damage it has caused. meteorologists say this could be the strongest tropical cyclone in history and even stronger than hurricane katrina which devastated the southern united states in 2005. at least three deaths have been attribute to the storm but 25 million people are in its path. perhaps among the most vulnerable in situations like this are children. earlier i spoke to anna who is the philippines country director for save the children on the impact that super typhoon haiyan will have on the littlest citizens. a typhoon like this, everyone is practically -- perhaps vulnerable. are those that are the elderly, the sick and children. tell us a little bit what kind of impact this could have on kids. >> a huge impact on the kids and affects the whole family

situation. what we fear is large proportion of the poor people in housing have been destroyed and might also destroy earning of their families and what we have seen earlier typhoons turn can have an effect on the nutrition levels. you have a huge wind outside and families might be scattered all over in different places. so a lot of fear and i'm sure a lot of the kids right now are very scared. >> you're in manila right now. what are you hearing from your colleagues in the region in terms of where we are in the eye of the storm there. what kind of damage is being sustained by this typhoon? >> i talked to my meetings.

the storm early this morning around 5:00, 6:00 this morning here. they were scared. they said the strongest they have ever seen. shattered a window of a room they were in so a very strong tie soon. no electricity. there was no visibility. after that, the communications line has been cut so we haven't been able to get back to them. of course, we are concerned about the storm but the families who are there. >> what happeperhaps what is mo breaking tht othis is another major storm battering the philippines. what kind of impact is that having on already on preparations or even resources that are in place for a country that is so accustomed to these kind of storms?

>> this is the -- of course, our resources are really stretched. others are here as well. they are in numbers. i think -- >> anna, we thank you very much for joining us there. she is director for save the children in manila. let's get more on the storm itself, its strength and where it's headed with our meteorologist who is standing by with that. >> the storm has cleared the western province there. the largest one left in the path of the storm system. this is where we believe it is there. this region holds 500,000 people. these are small islands here and zoomed in on a google earth and

i manually counted this region. the water is impacting lots of people in this region and palawan the winds with the storm sitting at 270 kph and still a category five equivalent. the track of the storm in the next two hours pushes it over the northern fringe of palawan. this island in the direct path of the storm system and to the south of it is this area. we will talk about this and this storm will move out of this area the next three hours and move to the china sea and conditions will clear up so good news as we head into saturday morning. areas around bocolar, 1 million tourists here. 200 plus million dollars brought into that island.

another prominent area that will be impacted that is this area. an area that is well known for its underwater rivers and cave system set up. the last couple of years it was named one of the world's new seven wonders of nature and it brings in 750,000 tourists in one year and a lot of populated regions before the storm system exits the picture from the philippines and the south china sea filled by tomorrow and likely to be a super typhoon and vietnam into the path of it two days from now. the storm system impacts this region of vietnam. >> petran, keep an eye on things for us. thank you very much. when nalftural fa none ma strike a country, it happened in

japan when the earthquake and tsunami hit in japan. >> reporter: if i have kilometers from the fukushima daiichi plant, only aurthorized vehicles are allowed past this point. we are inside the plant now. where we are off to is get the hazmat suits and the protection before we go into the more contaminated areas. the journalists are getting ready here. this is what the workers have to go through every single day. there is strict rules about what we can and can't film. but this is the part of the plant that they want us to show, reactor four. you can't get much closer to the heart of the fukushima disaster

than this and where tepco has brought us here. we are in the building that suffered that blast in days after the disaster. this is the cooling pool and inside there there are 1,500 spent fuel rods. what the company is doing is remove those fuel rods to a more stable location, they say. they insist it is a routine and they have done it many times before. the fuel rods will be removed and transferred to a pool 100 meters from the damaged reactor building an operation tepco is calling a milestone in the recovery effort. officials say they do not believe the fuel rods were damaged falling into the pool after the explosion but they won't know for sure until the operation begins. the large pieces of debris have been removed from the pool the plant chief tells us. we used an underwater vacuum cleaner to remove the smaller pieces but there may be tiny pieces left. nearby we show the water storage

tanks up close. recent leaks have made the contaminated water one of tepco's immediately concerns. they can hold 400,000 tons of water. in this building, the effort to process the toxic water to remove some of the radioactive elements is ongoing. and on the ocean front, barriers are being built to protect the plant from another tsunami and stop toxic ground water seeping into the pacific ocean every day. these yellow and pink tags you can see mark where this barrier is and it's effectively liquid cement they have injected here to keep the contaminated ground water not seeping into the pacific. stop-gap measures continue with the delicate and essential operation at reactor four and a key effort to stabilize the plant. paul has hancocks inside the

fukushima daiichi plant. coming up, new york stock exchange. we will bring you reaction from the trading floor. stay with us. [ man ] look how beautiful it is. ♪ honey, we need to talk. we do? i took the trash out. i know. and thank you so much for that. i think we should get a medicare supplement insurance plan. right now?

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edition of "cnn newsroom." ipo price was set at $26 but strong demand from investors saw shares close almost 73% higher at $44.90. alison kosik who was on the floor of the trading floor throughout the day has a recap of all the action. >> reporter: energy was high. the floor was packed. the blue logo larry bird was everywhere on the platform outside the building. interestingly, twitter did not ring the opening bell. like most ceos and executives do when they their company public. twitter gave that honor to some of its notable users. actor patrick stewart and 9-year-old girl who raised money to end child slavery and a representative from the boston police. the moment of truth, 10:50 a.m. the ticker moved and a big cheer opened the room and opened at

$45 a share that is the price that everyday investors were able to get in at but the ipo priced asset $26 last night. also amped up the nyse. twitter ipo was a big get for the exchange. it had to duke it out for the nasdaq for these listings fighting like two boxers and despite fears of technical glitches, especially after the nasdaq botched the hit. i talked to the ico how things went easement we are proud about it. i said in a town hall meeting you don't have to go back that far to a time we were winning 1 out of 2 out of every 10 technology ipos and now wing every 6 out of 10 ipos including a lot of the important ones. i think the wind in our sails and no time to get com

placative. >> the work begins and twitter has to prove to investors their money was well spent. i'm alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. twitter had a great day but it wasn't the case for the markets in the u.s. in general. all three major indices fell on thursday and investors are worried the fed could rein in its stimulus program sooner than expected. the dow lost 1% by the close. its biggest drop in a month and nasdaq fell 2% and the s&p 500 lost 1.3% and its largest daily decline since august. a new report claimed the cia is paying at&t more than $10 million a year to get access to the company's phone records. "the new york times" confirmed the payoutses with government officials and access to the phone records is reportedly limited to people the cia believes are associated with overseas terrorism suspects. in a statement to cnn, the cia said, as a matter of longstanding policy the cia does not comment on the alleged

intelligence sources or methods. at&t's response to cnn was, quote, whenever any government entity anywhere seeks information from us, we ensure that the request and our response are completely lawful and proper. like all teleconproviders we routine charge governments for producing the information provided. u.s. president barack obama says he never asked many questions about the source of intelligence information on u.s. allies. his comments on thursday come amid sustained anger in germany over reports that chancellor angela merkel's cell phone was tapped. germany is demanding an apology and a new agreement with washington stating its leaders will not be spied on by the united states. three top british intelligence officials took their turn in the hot seat on thursday in a public hearing. they are being grilled over allegations they were tapping citizens internet communication. it follows leaks by former nsa

contractor edward snowden but they hit back saying snowden's leak harm counterterrorism operations. >> the leaks from snowden have been very damaging. they put our operations at risk. it's clear that our adversaries are rubbing their hands with gle glee and al qaeda is living it up. in a manifesto published last week snowden said his reactions are bringing change. the u.s. want him to change and face espionage scandals. kick it to a lady gaga concert, prostitutes, luxury hotel stays and thousands of

dollars in paid travel are just the beginning of the alleged bribes in a broadening u.s. navy scandal that now has three top officials under arrest. u.s. navy commander luis sanchez arrested in tampa a, florida, now charged with accepting hookers, luxury travel, and 100,000 dollars cash from a foreign defense contractor in exchange for classified information about navy ship movements. >> it's a worrysome case. >> reporter: two other senior navy official, a commander, a naval criminal investigation service agent and a contractor also charged in the scheme. according to the government, the way it worked, in part, navy commander michael missvitz

scheduled port visits where leonard's company provided tug boats and fuel. in return, francis known as fat leonard and his company provided illegal benefits to navy personnel that literally steered ships his way. some of the other allegations? the navy was overcharged $500,000 for one port visit. fat leonard provided mercedes for transportation. according to prosecutors, at one point, misvitz asked. >> should i ask more guys from the office if they want to go to lady gaga concert? >> reporter: all of the defendants have pled not guilty. disclosing the future locations of navy ships and their transit schedules is classified, so officials say beyond the payoff scandal this could have been a real risk to national security. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. more on super typhoon high yawn. it has weakened a bit but it

remains one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall. we will bring you what is happening in the philippines when "cnn newsroom" continues. ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ [ male announcer ] the beautifully practical and practically beautiful cadillac srx. get the best offers of the season now. lease this 2014 srx for around $369 a month with premium care maintenance included. ♪

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to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels without a prescription. cardioviva. you've been watching a special edition of "cnn newsroom" live from london and hong kong. one of the strongest storms in recorded history is barreling down a large part of the philippines. the storm is called haiyan and categorized as a typhoon. the storm it packing more winds powerful than hurricane katrina. it is making its way through philippines and 200 nautical miles south/southeast of the capital manila. we have heard reports of extensive damage and combinations in some areas have been -- that electricity i should say in some areas have been cut off. at least three deaths have been

attributed to the storm and that number could rise because 25 million people are said to be in haiyan's path. we will keep tracking that super typhoon for you so keep checking in with us on cnn for more updates. look for the website for more. go to cnn.com/international. we will talk more about this now. olga moved to celebrate her retirement but doesn't expect to changes lives there. we meet a woman who hope to save girls from a terrible fate. >> reporter: here village life is simple but it is in this ideal setting far from the tropics where she has a different kind of trial on her

hands, bringing an end to girls are sold and into the life of servitude. a price murray says no family should have to pay. >> when we discovered the practice in 1999, we decided that we would try to eradicate it and we came into these villages and we offered each family a baby pig or baby goat if they bring their daughter home and allow us to put her in school. this is a typical village when the families own many animals and we have rescued several of the girls in this village. in this one family there were six girls, five of whom were bonded away. the sixth who is 13 will never be bonded away because of our work. >> reporter: she never thought she would be doing this when she arrived in katmandu to celebrate

her retirement but what she found instead was a new calling. founded by murray in 1990, nepal youth foundation says it has rescued more than 11,000 girls from contracts. bagwatee is one of them. first sold at the age of 9 and bartered away multiple times to provide money for her family. >> translator: my family was very poor and didn't have anything to eat. i left home crying, she says. once i was there i had to work all kinds of jobs. washing dishes and looking after the baby. i was terrified but i was forced to go. i had no way out. bagwatee's mother remembers the horror having to give up her daughter. it was the only way to earn money for the family, she says. no money at home and not even for food. i had to do it but every time i had to send one of my daughters

away i cried. now thanks to nepal youth foundations, my daughter is back home, in school, and has dreams an aspirations of her own. >> translator: i want to become a social worker, she says. that way i can help other girls like me. murray says it's girls like bagwatee give her hope in the future that the practice will be eradicat eradicated. >> i admire their bravery and after what they have been through, they are hopeful and ready to go to school and back to living with their families again and it makes me feel very happy. who could rve think 25 years ago that this would happen. life takes very odd twists and turns and this is one of them! >> reporter: a turn, she says, that has changed not only the lives of these girls, but also her own.

that is it for this special edition of "cnn newsroom." >> coverage of super typhoon covers in the next hour. for those of you in the united states, "early start" is next.

happening right now. a deadly typhoon raging through the philippines. punishing winds and topping out at 235 miles per hour. millions in the path of destruction. president obama acknowledging his health care blunders as millions of americans get dropped by their insurance companies. is it too little, too late? embattled toronto mayor caught on tape. this time unleashing a violent tirade. now find out what his family has

to say about his erratic behavior. >> he needs help, i think. >> i'm don lemon in for john r berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. breaking overnight, super typhoon haiyan. a category 5 storm with winds topping out at 230 miles per hour. it is slamming into the philippines and happening right now and overnight and putting millions of people directly in harm's way. we go live to kathy novak who is live on the phone from manila this morning. i know it's difficult to get live images out of there because you're in the midst of this. can you describe what is happening right now? >> if i can give you a sense how big this storm is. it covers an area as large from washington, d.c.o